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Support Can Be Just a Phone Call Away

By Mary Damiano

(Page 1 of 3)

Gilda Radner, comedienne and
actress, said that when she was diagnosed with cancer,
she felt as if she’d become a member of a club to which
she didn’t want to belong. When someone is diagnosed
with cancer, their caregivers and family members also
join an exclusive club that the caregivers themselves
often overlook. But seeking out other members of this
club can make a great difference in the quality of life
for both the caregiver and the person they are caring
for.

Support groups are often thought of as something for the
person who actually has the disease. But Karen Hansen,
Program Director for Gilda’s Club South Florida,
believes support groups are equally important for
caregivers. “Cancer happens to the whole family,” Hansen
says. “The caregivers themselves need a place to talk to
someone else who’s going through the same things that
they are, without the person with cancer.”

Gilda’s Club offers a variety of groups and activities
so people living with cancer and their families can
always find a group to fit their needs. There are groups
for people living with cancer based on the type of
cancer, groups for families and friends, groups for
parents of children with cancer, groups for kids who’ve
lost someone to cancer. Professional therapists and
psychologists facilitate the groups, but Hansen stresses
that the members are in charge. “The groups here,
there’s a facilitator in it, but the members run it. The
group is about the members.”

Nothing is frowned on within the groups. Hansen says
that group members are free to be themselves, to talk
about the good and bad things they are feeling. “There
are no rules,” Hansen says. “They’re free to express if
they don’t like what they hear or disagree with
someone.” Dr. Nick Masi, President and CEO of Gilda’s
Club South Florida, is one of the founding members of
that chapter. Dr. Masi and his wife, both psychologists,
helped found the South Florida chapter of Gilda’s Club
in 1994.

“We have had some personal cancer experiences ourselves
and knew the importance of the social and emotional
support and knew it didn’t exist down here in South
Florida,” says Masi. “We were looking into something
like a Gilda’s Club to bring down here. We got together
with a group that we were already involved with and got
together with another group, the American Cancer Society
wanted to help us, and we made it happen.”

Masi understands firsthand the need for support groups
for both patients and caregivers. “I had two daughters
with cancer,” Masi says. “My oldest daughter, Jennifer,
passed away when she was 14 from neuroplastoma. She had
been diagnosed when she was three, so she lived for 11
years. We had been through all kinds of cancer
experiences for those 11 years, and during that time, my
other daughter was diagnosed with a tumor when she was
two years old. She had surgery and chemotherapy and
she’s been fine. She’s now in college and doing great.”

Both Hansen and Masi agree that one of the most
beneficial aspects of caregiver support groups is that
they give caregivers a place to talk about what they’re
going through with others in the same situation. “Once
they start coming,” Hansen says, “They keep coming back
and they feel like they’re not alone anymore.” They have
someone to share it with.”